• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechApple

Oculus VR Founder: Apple Doesn’t Make a ‘Good Computer’

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 4, 2016, 10:58 AM ET
Courtesy of Oculus

Mac owners hoping to get their hands on the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset are out of luck. And it’s all because they’re running second-rate computers.

That’s the claim from Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey, who spoke to video games website Shacknews in an interview published Thursday. When pressed on when Oculus Rift might eventually work with Macs, Luckey said it’s ultimately “up to Apple.”

“If they ever release a good computer, we will do it,” Luckey said in the interview, taking a shot at the company’s Mac line.

Luckey didn’t stop there. He added that if a consumer buys a “$6,000 Mac Pro,” referring to Apple’s high-end desktop computer, he or she still wouldn’t have the graphical firepower required to run the Oculus Rift.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Oculus first came on the virtual reality scene in 2012 with a Kickstarter campaign aimed at raising enough money to build the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Luckey was 20 years old. The Kickstarter campaign caught fire and ultimately raised $2.4 million. In March 2014, Facebook (FB) acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion.

Since then, Oculus has been working on its Rift headset to compete in what promises to be a crowded field. The Oculus Rift will start shipping this month. The device costs $599. Several other companies, including Sony, Samsung, and HTC, are all working on virtual reality headsets.

The virtual reality hype is at a fever pitch. After years of anticipation, 2016 promises to either be the year that VR headsets, which place users into 3D environments, take off or once again flounder. Indeed, headsets launched in the past ultimately fell flat. Oculus, along with its competitors, believe things will be different this time around.

How about buying an ’Oculus Ready’ computer?

However, the challenge for all of the headset makers will be getting content to the devices. Oculus will rely upon games running on Windows PCs in order to deliver that content to the headset. Other platforms, like the Sony PlayStation VR, will use content from the PlayStation 4.

The other issue with virtual reality is that the content typically requires high-end graphics, meaning a top-of-the-line computer is required to get the full experience. VR video games are not traditional titles that limit users to what they see in the screen. Instead, gamers are placed inside the games (or movies and other content) and allowed to look around. A 360-degree graphical environment, in other words, is far more complex and requires the full might of today’s computers to deliver that complexity to a headset.

Realizing that, the Oculus website lists several Windows-based computers that would work with the Oculus Rift. Not surprisingly, they’re all high-end PCs with extremely expensive video cards. Apple’s computers come with less-powerful video cards.

Despite Luckey’s seeming troubles with Apple’s current computers, he didn’t ultimately count out the iPhone maker. He told Shacknews that if Apple (AAPL) ever updates its graphics cards to an option that would accommodate the Rift’s requirements, he’d “love to support Mac.”

For more on Oculus’s popularity, watch:

“But right now, there’s just not a single machine out there that supports it,” he said.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

PoliticsColleges and Universities
Pentagon chief blocks officers from Ivy League schools and other top universities, including partners on AI and space
By Jason MaFebruary 28, 2026
25 minutes ago
AIAnthropic
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says ‘we are patriotic Americans’ committed to defending the U.S. but won’t budge on ‘red lines’
By Jason MaFebruary 28, 2026
5 hours ago
sarandos
InvestingMedia
3 things we will never know after Netflix pulled out of the Warner Bros. bidding, handing it to Paramount
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 28, 2026
8 hours ago
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
AIAnthropic
OpenAI sweeps in to ink deal with Pentagon as Anthropic is designated a ‘supply chain risk’—an unprecedented action likely to crimp its growth
By Jeremy KahnFebruary 28, 2026
8 hours ago
Big TechAmerican Politics
Your spend as a ‘weapon’: Scott Galloway’s ‘Resist and Unsubscribe’ movement asks you to ditch Amazon, Apple, and Netflix to oppose Trump
By Kristin StollerFebruary 28, 2026
12 hours ago
world's fair
CommentaryRobots
Something big is happening in AI, but panic is the wrong reaction
By Peter CappelliFebruary 28, 2026
13 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
Japanese companies are paying older workers to sit by a window and do nothing—while Western CEOs demand super-AI productivity just to keep your job
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Walmart exec says U.S. workforces needs to take inspiration from China where ‘5 year-olds are learning DeepSeek’
By Preston ForeFebruary 27, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Middle East
Iran is now on 'death ground' amid existential threat from U.S. attacks and could 'go big' in retaliation, former NATO commander warns
By Jason MaFebruary 28, 2026
7 hours ago
placeholder alt text
AI
The week the AI scare turned real and America realized maybe it isn't ready for what's coming
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 28, 2026
14 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of February 27, 2026
By Danny BakstFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Law
China's government intervenes to show Michigan scientists were carrying worms, not biological materials
By Ed White and The Associated PressFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.